I was reading this in the Times yesterday, rather scary, I thought.
I've noticed that the BNP have had a stall on Newark market place now for about the past four Saturdays. On most of the occasions I've spotted them they've been pretty much left to their own devices and nobody appears to be stopping to talk to them. Apart from last Saturday where some old codger had stopped and I could hear him saying "The trouble with these European things is you don't know who you're voting for and you never see them after the election." This worries me, he's exactly the sort of person they'd target. The BNP reps probably tried to sell their party to him as one that puts Britain first and is looking to get out of the EU. They'd have got him, and, as it says in that article, all that's needed is a low turnout and for a few people to vote for them and they're in. When they get MEPs they're entitled to all sorts of subsidies and have to be taken seriously by the media.
I'm torn about the BNP. Obviously I find their views totally abhorrent, but, as a believer in free speech, I think they should be allowed their say, no matter how horrid I find it. And I think that you should always know your enemy.
And Newark's exactly the sort of town where they may get something of a sympathetic ear. There's a huge distribution centre here for Curry's and food factories that both employ a lot of migrant workers. Prime 'they're taking our jobs and driving down wages' territory. And you only need a few fuckwits to get these people elected. I mean, look at last time, they elected Robert Kilroy Silk around here...
4 comments:
The danger of the BNP is that they masquerade themselves as a genuine political party rather than as the bunch of simplistic racists they are.
In my home city of Lichfield, we recently had a little press spat when one our higher profile Asian businessmen suggested building a Mosque in the city. The local press was showered by letters from the NIMBY brigade, and within a week the BNP had parked a slogan-covered van outside Lichfield Cathedral to spread their hate message.
The following couple of weeks saw plenty of comment on blogs and in local papers, many sympathetic to the BNP. Whilst it makes me slightly unwell to think I'm surrounded by so many bigots, I also think a lot of people mentally align the BNP to UKIP. Mistake.
To get to the core of the BNP, just check out their recent election leaflet. So 'Black and Asian Britons don't exist' eh? And we're currently undergoing a 'bloodless genocide' in this country due to people's skin colour.
Twats. Dangerous Twats
Thanks, Rob. Fortunately here in sleepy Newark they haven't gone to those extremes. But that's not to say they wouldn't if there was a sizeable ethnic population, who wanted to do something like, say, build a place of worship.
I once went on a Euro election vote count, the amount of people voting BNP surprised me.
Ooh, let me add that to my wish list:
i. See a gig at The Fillmore, San Francisco.
ii. Watch a Test match in Trinidad.
iii. Watch the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field.
iv. Attend a European Election Vote Count.
Sorry for taking the mick! Hope it was worth the trip.
It was worth the 60 quid for three hours 'work'.
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